One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for New Roads should be reffered to in order to estimate when to plant watermelon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Watermelon require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in New Roads is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in New Roads. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Roads is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in New Roads there is a last frost after February 15 be ready to protect your watermelon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Roads

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in New Roads

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Roads.